Re: Drosophyllum lusitanicum

Manfred Buerzele (buerzele@hlhp1.physik.uni-ulm.de)
Mon, 14 Aug 95 11:01:11 MESZ

Brett Lymn wrote:

> According to Manfred Buerzele:
> >
> >I have two quite big Drosophyllum plants, that I have grown from seeds
> >in May last year.
>
> Any hints on getting these suckers to sprout? I normally resort to
> slicing a hole in the seed and soaking them in water until they sprout
> but it is a very hit & miss process for me.

In the last two years I have sown all in all seven grains of
Drosophyllum seed.
Six of them sprouted in less than 5 days and only one didn't sprout at all.
Therefore I think, my method cannot be completely wrong, though I lost
two of my very first plantlets about two weeks after they sprouted.
Probably they simply dried up until I realised, that the little plants
need just as much water as any other little cp and are not at all that
water sensitive and touchy as many cp books claim.

I soak Drosophyllum seeds for 14 hours in 0.5% sulphuric acid (sounds far
more dangerous than it is actually, 0.5% really isn't that acidic).
Then I put them into a substrate consisting of equal parts of peat,
sand, ordinary plant soil and sort of a clay granulate ("Seramis").
I fill the lower third of the pot completely with the clay granulate
to get good drainage. This way I can put the pot permanently in a saucer
with 2 cm water without overwatering the plants.

So far my plants are doing very well and seem to be quite modest and
easy to grow.

BTW: Do Drosophyllum flowers last only one single day?

Cheers,
Manfred.